When I turned 16 (within the past decade), Dad spent $1400 and bought a 12 year old old Mazda hatchback - the thing was completely gutless and didn't even have

When I turned 16 (within the past decade), Dad spent $1400 and bought a 12 year old old Mazda hatchback - the thing was completely gutless and didn't even have a stereo, let alone airbags and traction control (ABS, maybe, I feel like it's been pretty much standard for years now). Many of my classmates had similarly worthless cars - "reasonably safe" has a lot more to do with the driver than the vehicle (admittedly, young drivers tend to be stupid, but safer cars will just make them more reckless (at least at the macro level)).